The Mirror Tiara (A Gumi x Len fanfic)
by NothingHasRegrets
Summary: Teenage Gumi has never before found an interest in boys, though once her best friend Miku starts going out with one of the most popular boys in school, Len, she begins to rethink her distaste in boys... (WARNING: THIS IS OLD AND CRINGEY)
1. New day, new drama

*kicks down door*

MOM HOLY FxCK I WROTE THIS WHEN I WAS TWELVE AND I HAVE REGRETS.

In any case no I am not going to delete or edit this thing because:

1) If I editted it and made it up to my current standards pretty much the whole plot would change.

2) When I finished writing this I had already been cringing hard enough.

3) I made a stupid promise to myself to be the first successful person on this site to write and finish a Gumi x Len fanfiction and keep it posted and I hate myself for such a promise.

In any case proceed at your own risk and have fun.

* * *

"I still can't believe it!" Miku exclaimed for the thousandth time.  
"Neither can I!" Gumi replied for the nine hundred and ninety eighth time (the first two times were met with a 'what?!' and an 'oh my gosh!').  
Both of the girls were walking back from their last class of the day discussing the newest gossip in the school. Miku had bravely asked one of the most popular boys in the school, Len, if he would go out with her and he answered yes.  
As they were walking out of the school, the two girls ran into Rin.  
"Hey Rin!" Miku called.  
"Oh, Miku!" Rin said in return.  
Miku ran over to Rin to tell her about what she had just done, even though Rin had probably already heard. Gumi merely walked, cradling her precious book in her arms.  
"So what do you think about your brother and I going out?" Miku asked Rin.  
"I think it's weird. You know, your best friend going out with your twin brother? It's going to take some adjusting for me" Rin replied giving Miku a 'See what I have to go through' look.  
"How did you get him to say yes though? I've known him my whole life and he's never answered yes to anyone asking him out" Rin asked as Gumi reached them.  
"I'm actually not sure" Miku replied.  
"Hey, Miku. I'm going home now, see you tomorrow" Gumi said smiling.  
"Oh, okay" Miku replied waving goodbye to Gumi.  
Gumi walked back home quietly, opening her book 'The Mirror Tiara' every few minutes to read.  
As soon as Gumi reached her house, she started to work on her homework. Finishing all of it in less than an hour, she began to read her book again.  
'The Mirror Tiara' was a story about how the daughter of an important council member finds an enchanted mirror that gives her the power to change her appearance. She then decides to use this power to overthrow the royal family. In the process though she falls in love with one of the Queen's most devoted servants, bringing a hint of romance to please Gumi's tastes.  
Halfway through a chapter, Gumi heard the door open.  
"G, I'm home!" Her mother cried.  
"Kay mom!" Gumi yelled back before she got up from her bed and went to go take a shower.  
As soon as Gumi walked out of the bathroom in her pajamas, the wonderful scent of spaghetti hit her nose.  
Running down stairs Gumi helped her mother serve the pasta before sitting down to eat.  
"How was school today sweetie?" Her mom asked.  
"It was great" Gumi replied digging into her food.  
"Any drama?" Her mom asked again.  
"Not really. Miku did ask one of the most popular boys in the school out to a date and he agreed" Gumi said spinning some spaghetti onto her fork.  
"Who is this young man?"  
"Len. He's Rin's twin brother"  
"Ah"  
The rest of their dinner was eaten in silence.  
Gumi's mother didn't agree with high schoolers going out on dates and being boy-friend and girl-friend. She also expected Gumi to stay away from this drama and not to get caught in it.  
Once dinner was finished, Gumi took the plates into the kitchen and washed them. She then went back up to her bedroom and started to text Miku.

Gumi: do u have a time and place 4 the date picked out yet?  
Miku: i was thinking 2 on Sat  
Gumi: this Saturday?  
Miku: yeah  
Gumi: where?  
Miku: probably the mall  
Gumi: thanks. I'll bensure to watch u guys  
Gumi: *be sure  
Miku: lol typos. gotta love em  
Gumi: lol yeah

Gumi turned off her phone and started to charge it. She then turned off the lights and pulled the bed cover over her head until she fell asleep.

The next day at school Gumi found an issue of 'Gossip Territory' in her locker (one of the girls, Teto, had parents that worked in the printing business and was able to make her own bulletins for school since she loved gossip). The headline read, 'Miku and Len, soon to be a couple? How other people are handling the rumor'. Gumi rolled her eyes as she threw the bulletin in her 'Gossip Territory trash bin' to look over when she was at home (she had signed up for the bulletins just because she wanted to stay updated, though she was going to stop the subscription soon because they were becoming less informative).  
Once lunch had come Gumi looked for Miku, though found her sitting at a table with Len. Gumi sadly walked over to a lone table to read.  
"Hey, watch it" a voice whispered from under the table. Gumi looked down surprised. Underneath the table sat Teto, biting a pen while watching Len and Miku tentatively. A note pad could be seen in her lap.  
"Oh, Teto. Can you stop my subscriptions for a while? I already know about the Len and Miku stuff so I won't need The Territory for a while" Gumi told her.  
"Oh, your friends with Miku right? How 'bout you tell me all that Miku tells you about the relationship and I give you the next subscription half off? And I'll take you off the list for the Miku x Len issues too" Teto asked.  
"Sure thing. I just need your email" Gumi replied.  
Teto scribbled her email onto the pad before ripping out the page and handing it to Gumi. "Thanks" she said.  
"No problem" Gumi told her as she took the paper and entered the email onto her phone as to make Teto a contact.

Looking up from her phone, Gumi saw Miku laughing and Len smiling. Surprisingly there was a sinking feeling in her stomach. She knew it wasn't about Miku being taken from her; in fact Gumi was grateful for the break, but instead about seeing Len smiling at another girl.  
What are you thinking? Gumi asked herself. I've never had feeling for anyone before, especially not Len, she told herself. Gumi sighed. I guess the hormones have gotten the best of me.

Once at home Gumi texted Miku

Gumi: saw u 2 talking. date confirmed?  
Miku: yup. 2 on Sat at the mall. btw dont want u to be watching. will make for awkward date  
Gumi: lol dont worry. I'll hack ur phone to watch that way  
Miku: wow, gr8

Gumi chuckled a little before texting Teto.

Gumi: hey Teto, this is Gumi. just confirmed, Miku and Len r having their date tmrw  
Teto: where? when?  
Gumi: classified. dont want people watching  
Teto: got it, thanks. I'll make sure to credit u in the issue  
Gumi: pls dont. i dont want people asking me 4 info  
Teto: got it. I'll say an inside voice k?  
Gumi: sure. Thanks  
Teto: no prob

Gumi sighed as she plopped onto her bed, her phone resting on the pillow. Tomorrow she would make sure to go to the mall, just to see how her friend's date would go. What type of friend would Gumi be if she didn't?


	2. Overlooking the date, Kinda

Gumi woke up to the wonderful smell of an omelette. Looking at the clock she realized with horror that she had woken up at twelve (the entire night before she had been reading).  
Gumi changed out of her pajamas and into an orange tank top with black jeans. She then put on her yellow jacket and ran downstairs, shoving her phone into her pocket in the process.  
"Good morning sweetheart" said Gumi's mom as Gumi sat down for her mom's famous carrot and cheese omelettes.  
Gumi's mom always cooked one huge omelette on Saturdays for lunch and placed it on top of rice before serving it out on the dinner table for everyone to eat together.  
"Mmmmm. It smells really good mom" said Gumi as she started to dig into the omelette.  
"Anything for my little carrot-top" said her mother as she frazzled Gumi's already messy hair. In Gumi's rush she had forgotten to brush it.  
"Thanks mom" she said slightly sarcastically as she brushed it down with her fingers.  
"So where are you going in such a rush?" her mom asked looking at her.  
"I was going to the mall today with Miku" Gumi replied. _It's technically true_ she thought to herself.  
"If you want I can give you a ride there" Gumi's mom said as she took a piece of the omelette.  
"I'm going to ride my bike there so you don't need to worry" said Gumi.  
Thirty minutes later Gumi brushed her teeth in the bathroom downstairs and ran outside to her bike.  
"Be careful!" her mom yelled through the window as Gumi put on her black helmet covered in flame stickers.  
"Don't worry" she replied before taking off for the mall. Even though it wasn't too far away, Gumi still took half an hour to get there (which is including the time she took off stopping at the park to get a drink of water along the way).  
Gumi locked her bike outside the mall before walking in. She had twenty minutes before Miku and Len were going to arrive, and decided she would take some time looking around (she had forgotten to grab her wallet as well in her haste to hurry up).  
Gumi began to walk around the mall, though was immediately dawn to the bookstore on the second floor. She took some time to find 'The Mirror Tiara' in the store, and began to read from the page she left off on.  
Gumi didn't realize how much time had passed by until she heard a familiar voice from outside the store.  
"Len, why do you want to stop by the bookstore? We are supposed to be on a date" Miku said placing emphasis on the word date.  
"I just want to see if a certain book is here" Len replied as he walked into the store. Miku reluctantly followed after him.  
 _Oh shoot. Miku will never forgive me if she finds me here_ Gumi thought to herself as she pulled the book higher up on her face and started to step back slowly. Sadly she bumped into someone and almost fell over.  
Gumi regained her balance and turned around.  
"I am so sorry I never…" she started. Len merely looked back at her from the ground.  
Gumi blushed as she saw him. From afar at the school he had looked nice, but in seeing him face to face she now realized why he had so many fan-girls.  
"Len are you okay?" asked Miku running up to him. She looked up at Gumi and immediately frowned.  
"And I thought I told you NOT. TO. COME." Miku said.

Now, Miku had different sides. There is the happy and cute side, which we normally see. There is the dark side, when she acts very creepy and is actually quite scary. There is the sad side, where she will really, truly feel sad for whatever may have happened to her (this side we rarely see). And then there is the mad side, where Miku's inner demon is unleashed and she develops a powerful aura, allowing her to kill even the strongest of men. Once when her angry side had been unleashed, she got the strongest bully on the school put into the hospital. Gumi made sure not to get on her bad side ever since that day.

"Oh, M-miku, i-its n-n-nice to s-see you here, haha" said Gumi as she walked backwards. Sadly she tripped over her own foot in her panic and fell back.  
"Gumi…" Miku said as she walked closer to Gumi. By now her aura was shining and all heads in the book store had turned to where Gumi and Miku were.  
"Okay I beg and plead for you not to do anything I swear I was just curious please don't kill me" said Gumi as she fell to her knees in front of Miku, covering her face.  
Miku stood there, looking down at Gumi. Her aura faded as she bent down and moved Gumi's hands away from her face.  
"Gumi. You're my friend so I could never hurt you. The only problem at the moment though, is that I wanted a private date" said Miku calmly, the anger in her eyes burnt out.  
"S-so, I'm okay?" Gumi asked slightly skeptical.  
"Yeah, just make sure to give me some privacy next time" Miku said standing up. She helped Gumi up and faced Len.  
"Do you want to continue the date, or should we call it off and bring Gumi back home?" Miku asked Len once Gumi had gotten up.  
"Whatever you'd prefer. I really don't care" He said looking up from the book he was reading, already an eighth through.  
 _So he read through that entire thing?_ Gumi thought to herself. She then noticed that the book Len was reading happened to be 'The Mirror Tiara'.  
"Oh my gosh. That is such a good book" Gumi said without thinking.  
"Gumi!" Miku said through her teeth as she elbowed Gumi.  
"Oh really? I was planning on reading it for a while now but never got to finding it" said Len as he closed the book.  
"Yeah. I have the second book, 'A Shattered Scepter' if you want to borrow it once you've finished" Gumi told him.  
"Sure" Len smiled as he took out his wallet and went to go wait in line to buy the book. Gumi smiled back, happy she found a new friend.  
Miku exhaled before placing her hand on her forehead.  
"I'm gonna go home and leave you two to flirt with each other. See ya" Miku said with a slight look of hatred and sadness.  
"No don't go! Wait, what?!" said Gumi slightly bewildered. Miku then walked up to Len and exchanged some words with him (Gumi didn't hear what she said) before leaving the store.  
Gumi merely stood there replaying the words Miku had said to her in her head. Once they sunk in, Gumi raced out of the bookstore to find Miku. Sadly, the mall was now packed and Miku's teal tails were nowhere to be seen.  
"She already left?" Gumi heard a voice behind her say. She turned around to see Len standing there with his book open.  
"Yeah" Gumi said as she put her hands in her pockets and looked around one last time.  
"That's too bad. I was going to treat her to lunch too. Hey, why don't you have lunch with me? We can discuss books and stuff" Len asked Gumi.  
"W-what?!" Gumi responded astonished. _He just asked if you wanted to join him to lunch. That's all. Plus you guys WEREN'T flirting in there._ Gumi told herself.  
"Do you or do you not want to come with me to lunch?" he asked her as he folded the corner of the page he was reading in his book and closed it.  
"S-sure, but I'm just coming along to talk. I already had lunch" Gumi said. She felt heat on her neck and realized she might have been blushing.  
"Cool. Follow me, I have a special place I always go to when I'm at the mall" Len said as he grabbed Gumi's wrist and started to pull her with him. Her cheeks flushed as she scrambled after him.  
 _Goodness is he fast_ she told herself as they made their way to the mall. _I really hope Miku isn't mad at me though, she seemed sad when I started to talk to Len. Could she really be jealous?_ Gumi thought just before Len stopped running. She looked up to see a familiar sight.


	3. A Friendly Outing

"You're kidding right? You like Matt's Diner too!" Gumi said staring at Len dumbfounded.  
"Hey. The food is good, plus it's an old fashioned diner" Len replied as he ushered Gumi into the diner.  
They sat down at a booth and started to read the menus once the waitress brought them. Len decided to get a grilled cheese sandwich while Gumi thought it would be best if she just got something small and ordered a chocolate malt.  
"So, what is it that you like about the Mirror Tiara?" Len asked Gumi as she was staring out the window.  
"Probably the fact that once you start to get deeper in the story, there are multiple walls Marina faces and has to get past. Not to mention the fact that all the books have already been made so I won't have to wait for the next one to be published" said Gumi almost nonchalantly. She was very careful not to mention the fact that she liked the romance in fear that she would seem way too childish.  
"How about you?" she asked him.  
"I like the fact that it's labeled as an adventure book as well as romance. Those types of books always spark my interest" Len replied in the same manner Gumi did. Though surprised at his answer, Gumi decided to be honest.  
"Yeah, me too"  
Len's sandwich and Gumi's malt ended up coming just as she finished her sentence.  
As Len dug into his sandwich, Gumi sipped her malt and continued looking out of the window.  
"Hey, would this count as a date?" She asked in a (fake) cool tone. It wasn't something she hadn't intended to ask, but the thought had been nagging at her for a while.  
"Let's just call it a friendly outing since we're technically friends now" Len said looking up from his half eaten sandwich.  
"We're not really friends though. I just met you and you just met me" Gumi pointed out, surprised at his words.  
"True, but I think we're hitting it off quite well" said Len. Gumi nodded in agreement. _He does have a good point_ _  
_They finished up their outing and Len payed for the food ("I'm so sorry for forgetting my wallet" Gumi told him on repeat the entire time). Eventually they made it out of the mall to where Gumi's bike was.  
"I came on my bike, how did you get here?" Gumi asked Len.  
"I came on a skateboard. Miku told me she had to walk though since apparently she doesn't have a bike or any type of transportation with wheels she can legally ride" said Len in reply.  
"That's one way to put it" Gumi muttered under her breath. Len heard though, and answered her with a "Hey!". He ended up punching her in the arm and she did the same. They both laughed at how childish they were acting, and walked out towards Gumi's bike.  
She strapped her helmet on and unlocked her bike while Len put the book in his sweater and zipped it up before looking underneath a bench. He got a strange expression on his face before he pushed a bush apart and looked in it.  
"What are you doing?" Gumi asked him.  
"Looking for my skateboard. I think someone stole it" he said as he pushed himself back up and walked over to Gumi scratching his head and looking around.  
"You're kidding me right?" Gumi said once he reached her.  
"Nope" Len replied taking one last look around before shrugging his shoulders.  
"I'll have to walk" he said matter-of-factly. Gumi thought about this for a moment.  
"Why don't you ride behind me?" she told him. Sadly, she realized Len would have to hold onto her only after she had said this, and almost began to blush at the thought of contact again.  
"Really? Thanks" he said walking up to her. Gumi sighed internally before pulling herself up onto the bike. Len sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Gumi felt her heartbeat increasing and thought Len might be able to feel it since he was holding onto her. She thought correctly as Len's next words were, "Why are you nervous?"  
"Well, I, I've never had anyone ride behind me so I feel like as if I might mess up" she told him. This was partially true since because of the contact she could barely even talk.  
 _Who knew someone could get so nervous just at the crush they made THAT DAY hugging them? Actually that was a pretty dumb questio_ n.  
"If you're that scared I can ride. I've had to ride Rin multiple places because she refused to learn to ride a bike" Len told her as he let go and stepped off the bike.  
"You're kidding me right? Rin brags about what she can do all the time. But to learn she can't even ride a bike?" Gumi said dumbfounded.  
"Yeah, I know" Len replied as Gumi got off the bike. He pushed himself onto it and waited until Gumi got onto the bike behind him. She realized at that moment that _SHE_ would be the one to hold onto Len now. Blushing, Gumi was about to wrap her arms around Len before finding she was the one to wearing the helmet and not him.  
"Hold on, helmet" Gumi said as she took off the helmet and handed it to Len.  
"Thanks" he said in reply as he took the helmet and put it on his head. Sadly, Gumi would always pull the straps really tight, and could barely put in on herself, so when Len tried to put in on, he failed miserably.  
"Hey, could you help me strap this?" He asked her.  
"Sure" she said. Gumi strapped the helmet onto Len, carefully avoiding contact. Sadly her finger brushed his chin as she did so. As her cheeks flushed, Len laughed.  
"Hey, it's okay. It didn't pinch me that much" he told her. Gumi realized that when she had strapped the helmet on she had accidentally pinched him.  
"I'm so sorry!" She said realizing what she had done.  
"Like I said it's fine" responded Len as he ruffled Gumi's hair. She thought she was going to blush, but realized that all that was going on between them was merely what happens between friends. She smiled at him when he finished ruffling her hair and grabbed onto him when he turned around. Surprisingly, when she thought of him as a friend instead of someone she liked, Gumi felt it was so much easier to hold him. She kept her head on his back as he started to pedal. He went fast, so Gumi had to hold on tight.  
"Say, where is your house?" Len asked her. Gumi opened her eyes and looked at where they were.  
"Turn right here and keep going straight. My house is a straight shot from the mall so it's easy for me to get from here to there" She told him.  
"If you say so" he told her turning and riding down the road. The rest of the ride was silent as Gumi held onto Len and Len pedaled.  
Gumi took a large breath of air as they passed the park. She smelled the flowers that would always bloom during the end of winter, as well as Len's scent. She shook her head. _He's just a friend, he couldn't possibly be your crush if you just met. My goodness Gumi get a hold of yourself.  
_ As they approached Gumi's house, Gumi told Len to stop. She got off of the bike first, and Len followed. He took off the helmet and handed it to Gumi.  
"Thanks for the ride. My house actually isn't too far from here so it was actually a good idea to drop you off first" he told her smiling.  
"Anyways, what's your number or email?" he asked her.  
 _He only asked for your number because you're friends. Don't get worked up about this_ Gumi told herself to keep from blushing.  
"My email is carrot-top25 . There's a dash between the carrot and top by the way" she told him.  
"Carrot top huh? Suits you. I'm bananaboy4to4 . No space between the banana and boy, and the 2 is the letters T and O. Not the number" He told her as he punched in Gumi's email into his phone. Gumi took out hers and did the same.  
"Banana boy suits you too" she said tucking her phone into her pocket.  
"I'm glad we both agree" Len told her as he put his phone into his pocket as well.  
"See you on Monday?" he asked her.  
"Yeah. See ya" said Gumi as she waved goodbye. Len walked out of the driveway and down the road. Gumi watched him until he turned a corner. She then skipped back to the house and took the extra key out from the lamp next to the door before using it to open up the door. She put the key back and walked inside.  
"I'm home!" she yelled before walking out to the living room. Surprisingly her mom wasn't there. _Oh well_ thought Gumi as she walked up to her room and began to read. A couple of minutes later Gumi heard the door open and ran down to see if her mom was home. Gumi saw from the top of the stairs that her mom was waving goodbye to someone outside. A black car then drove off as Gumi reached the bottom of the stairs.  
"Where have you been mom?" Gumi asked.  
"I found this really nice guy and went on a date with him. Sorry for not telling you before. I got dinner though!" said Gumi's mom lifting up a takeout box.  
Gumi was going to scold her mom for withholding such valuable information, but dropped it at the sight of the takeout.  
"Thanks mom" she said grabbing the box and running to her room. (Writer's Note: In the story Gumi and her mom are already distant, since Gumi has so many different tastes than her mom. Gumi would then do many different things in her room such as eat, read, play, etc)  
"Hey, how did the day go for you?" yelled her mom as Gumi reached the top of the stairs.  
"Great" replied Gumi, which was not a lie. Gumi then ate the takeout in her room (she always kept a fork in her room just in case she wanted to eat without her mom) and got ready for bed (It was already six by then). Gumi read for a while longer before closing the book and slowly drifting off to sleep.


	4. An early morning rush

Gumi woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. Groggily, she got put of the bed and turned it off, brushing her fingers through her hair as to flatten it (her hair was always frizzy when she woke up). She opened her closet door and took out her uniform for school. It consisted of a white top with a collar and a dark green and brown pleated skirt (surprisingly, though the colors were bland, the uniform looked quite nice).

Gumi checked her phone as she walked over to her desk and put all of her books into her backpack. She had been texting Teto and Len the day before, laughing at all the hilarious things Len said, and giving Teto a review of how the date had gone the day before (Gumi decided it was best if she told Teto the date went well, but that Miku was uninterested afterwards. She hoped this would seem believable, after all, the real story was kind of embarrassing on her part T_T).  
Gumi found there was a text from Len.

Bananaboy: hey carrot top, is miku answering you? She's not talking to me

Carrot-top: no, ill ask her what the matter is today tho

Bananaboy: thanks, i think she might be mad at me

Carrot-top: if she wanted to be mad at anyone it should be me. I ruined your guys' date

Bananaboy: you didn't mean to though. In reality she was the one who called off the date. Why did she do it anyways?

Carrot-top: she was angry that me and you were "flirting"

Bananaboy: lol, are you serious? She must really have a hot head then, we were just talking about something we have in common. Omg

Carrot-top: she's usually doesn't act like that, so I'm actually surprised

Carrot-top: gtg, breakfast is waiting!

Bananaboy: lol k bye

Gumi sighed as she turned off her phone. She slipped it into the pocket of a white pullover and wrapped it around her waist. Picking up her backpack, Gumi walked downstairs and into the kitchen. She cut two slices of bread and put them in the toaster, tapping the kitchen counter as she waited for them to finish. Once Gumi heard the ping, she pulled them out carefully and dropped them onto the counter. She then blew on them until they cooled down, and started to eat one. She put the second one in a plastic bag and slipped it into one of the zippers on the front of her backpack.  
Gumi walked outside and jumped onto her bike, attaching her helmet before setting off. Her mom would usually drive her to school, but since her work shift ended up changing Gumi had to get herself to school now.  
It took Gumi no less than fifteen minutes to reach her school (the school was closer to her house than the mall, while also being closer to the mall than her house). She locked her bike onto the fence outside of the school and took her helmet inside with her.  
Gumi immediately scanned the hallway for any sign of Miku, but found nothing. She walked over to her locker and put her helmet in it, while grabbing all the books she would need for her first class. Gumi calmly closed her locker, only to yelp at the unexpected "boo". Len laughed as he leaned on the locker next to Gumi's.  
"I thought I would be able to scare you. Didn't know it would be this easy though" he said chuckling.  
"Hey, I didn't know you were there" Gumi told him in reply as to defend herself.  
"Fine, fine. Oh, did Miku answer you yet?" he asked.  
"No. I was hoping to see her later, so I'll straighten everything out then" Gumi said.  
"Please do so. Well, I've got to get going. See ya later" he told her walking away and waving his hand.  
"Yeah, see ya" she whispered almost to herself, though still loud enough for a little someone behind her to hear.  
"Ooooh. So you lied to me huh? Doesn't matter, just tell me what really happened and I won't tell people you went out with Len" said Teto.  
"Ah! Teto! You scared me. Wait, how did you know I went out with Len?" Gumi said, her eyes widening.  
"I was just going to spread that as a rumor if you didn't tell me the truth, but now that I know you went out with him, I can confirm it to be true" said Teto as she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and started to write.  
"Wait! I didn't go out with him. Well, maybe I kinda did, but you still need to hear the whole story" said Gumi slightly alarmed.  
"Not to mention, if you keep this a secret I'll fill you in on any detail you ever need in your life again okay" she added in a low whisper.  
Teto though for a moment before stretching our her hand. Gumi happily shaked it and told Teto the whole story starting from when she arrived at the mall, and ending it at where her and Len exchanged numbers.  
"Interesting. How about in the next issue I write that the date went well but that Miku and Len were uninterested in each other?" Teto asked Gumi.  
"That was the exact story I originally gave you" said Gumi giving Teto a _really_ look.  
"Oh, well then, I guess that's settled. Gotta go and type all this up" said Teto as she waved goodbye to Gumi with the hand holding her pen. Next thing Gumi knew, she was standing alone in the hallway again. Sighing, she turned around, only to jump back finding Miku standing cross armed in front of her (Author's note: Poor Gumi. Too many surprises for one day no?).  
"I swear this has to be the last time someone does this to me today" Gumi muttered under her breath as she pushed herself back up.  
"So, how did your date with Len go?" Miku sneered at Gumi.  
"Miku, it's a misunderstanding. Me and Len are just friends, nothing more" Gumi told her brushing her skirt down.  
"Oh, looks like both of you spent enough time together to become friends huh? Well go ahead and exclude me from your friend club" said Miku before walking away.  
"Wait Miku!" Gumi yelled as she ran to stop Miku. Her arm brushed Miku's before someone pulled her back.  
Gumi resisted being pulled back, and turned around to face the person who grabbed her when she broke free.  
Instead of jumping back or yelping, Gumi stood as still as stone in finding out it was the principal standing in front of her.  
"M-ms. Megurine..." Gumi started.  
"Gumi Megpoid. I do not tolerate screaming or running in my hallways understand? You've been at this school for three years now so this isn't anything new" said the principal Luka glaring at Gumi.  
"B-but m-ms. Megur..." Gumi tried to say.  
"Talking back to the teacher now are you? Well, that's three rules you have broken now and you know the consequences. Detention will be this Friday morning from 6:30 to 7:30. Don't be late or you will serve another hour of detention during the next session" finished Ms. Megurine before walking away.  
Gumi merely stood there looking at the spot her principal had once stood. Ever since Ms. Megurine had laid eyes on Gumi she had hated her, and found any excuse to get her in trouble. This certain meeting though set the new record for shortest time taken to give out a detention. Gumi could hear the applause in her head at setting the new record herself.  
Sighing, Gumi halfheartedly walked over to her first class of the day. _This next week will be interesting_ She thought to herself as she entered the classroom


	5. A First Time for Everything

The rest of the school day actually went by quickly. During break Miku was nowhere to be found and Gumi was alone, classes took place as normal (on Mondays Gumi didn't have any classes that Miku took), lunch was the same as snack, and soon the end of the school day came.  
Gumi closed her locker after taking out all the books she needed and putting them in her backpack. She swung it around her shoulders and walked outside.  
"Hey, Gumi!" She heard a voice come from behind her. Len was running with his backpack trailing behind him since it was only on one of his shoulders.  
"Thanks for giving me a warning this time" Gumi teased as he reached her.  
"Ha, ha. Can you give me a ride to the mall? My parents are working late and can't drive me there" he told her catching his breath slightly.  
"Sure, I was just gonna go there" Gumi told him motioning him towards her bike. They walked over to the bike and Gumi pulled off her backpack. She opened up the front zipper to get the keys and unlocked the bike. Gumi also took out the helmet and tucked it under her arm.  
"Why do you need to go there?" She asked him as she stood back up.  
"I wanted to start working just so that I could save up for college, even with my parent's protesting" he replied.  
"Am I gonna pedal again?" He then asked her as Gumi swung her backpack onto her right shoulder.  
"I guess so. Give me your backpack so I can hold it then" she said. Len obediently pulled off his backpack and handed it to her. Gumi gave him the helmet and he clipped it on before climbing onto the bike. Gumi swung his backpack around her left shoulder and got on the bike behind him. Wrapping her arms around him for support, they set off to the mall.  
"So, where are you working?" Gumi asked him.  
"Lotus Café. Today's gonna be my first day" he told her. This immediately caught her attention.  
"When is your shift?" She tried to ask nonchalantly. Sadly acting was not her strong point and failed at doing so.  
"Mondays and Fridays from 4 to 6. Why do you ask?" He told her.  
"Let's just say I also work at Lotus Café 4 to 6. Mondays and Thursdays though" she said softly.  
"Serious?" He asked her with a surprised tone.  
"Hey, I never kid" she told him.  
"That's awesome. Make sure to show me the ropes okay?" He asked.  
"If I'm instructed too yes. The manager's pretty lay back though, so don't worry about messing up" Gumi told him so that he wouldn't do the same thing she did in her first day. When she was in her sophomore year Gumi decided to get a job for the same reason Len did. She got to the cafe and was instructed to serve a couple some coffee. Being the clumsy and nervous Gumi she was, she started to go to the wrong table, and fell before she was close to reaching it. The manager was quite calm at this incident, and ever since had been like a father to Gumi.  
"Really? Well that's good to know" he told her. Soon they reached the mall and Len jumped off the bike before Gumi followed. He gave her the helmet after taking it off, only for her to leave it on the bike seat.  
They entered the mall and Len immediately started walking past all the shops, but Gumi grabbed him by collar and pulled him back.  
"There's a shortcut this way" she told him letting go if his shirt and walking into the clothes store next to her. A confused Len followed her in as Gumi wove her way through the entire store. At some point she reached the opposite side, from which a door led to the other side of the mall. She walked out of the store and straight to the café.  
"Wow, I never would have guessed that was a shortcut. Thanks" Len told Gumi as they approached the café.  
"No problem" she replied as they entered. The shop was empty except for a young man at the cash register.  
"Hey, Gumi! How are you?" said the man at the cash register.  
"I'm fine Kiyo. How about you?" She said in reply, walking to the back of the shop. Len followed her, looking around.  
"Today's been slow. Is this the new employee?" He asked Gumi.  
"Yeah. Len, this is Kiyoteru, the shop owner's son" Gumi told Len motioning towards Kiyoteru.  
"Hi, nice to meet you" Len said shaking hands with Kiyoteru.  
"It's my pleasure. My dad's in the kitchen working on some new tea or something. You can go back there and he'll tell you what he wants you to do" Kiyoteru told Len.  
"Sure. Thanks" Len replied as he walked to the back. Gumi did the same, but picked up a black apron and put it on. She then left the two backpacks hanging where the apron was before going in.  
Inside the kitchen an old man was stirring some leaves in a teapot. He looked up after hearing the door swing behind Gumi and smiled.  
"Ah, Gumi. This is Len I presume?" He said taking the pot off of the fire.  
"Yeah, it's a pleasure to meet you. What should I do right now?" Len asked him.  
"Well, first you should put on an apron. Then I'll teach you how to make coffee and tea" said the manager walking over to where the aprons were hanging and handed one to Len. He then proceeded to teach Len how to make tea and coffee. Gumi watched them until a mother and daughter entered the café. She went to greet them and take their order.  
"Welcome to Lotus Café. What would you two lovely ladies like today" said Gumi smiling at the little girl.  
"Ooh. Mommy, can I get a hot chocolate?" asked the little girl enthusiastically.  
"Of course sweetie. You deserve it for winning the spelling bee" the mother responded proudly.  
"You won the spelling bee?" Gumi asked the little girl. At the beginning Gumi didn't interact with the customers much, but was told by the manager that would help her relax and make the environment much nicer.  
"Yup. Do you know how to spell carrot?" The little girl replied.  
"Ooh, that's a hard one. Hmm, let's see. C, a, r, r, o, t. Carrot" Gumi responded.  
"Wow! How did you know that?" The little girl asked in awe.  
"I used to be in spelling bees when I was your age. Carrot was my favorite word" Gumi responded smiling.  
"Now, now Yuki. Let the nice lady take our order then we can talk" said the mother.  
"Okay mommy" the girl replied while acting as though she was zipping her lips.  
"I'll take a black coffee with some half and half please. Oh, and can you put some whipped cream on my daughter's hot cocoa? She absolutely adores the stuff" said the mom.  
"Of course ma'am. I'll make sure to put extra for you" Gumi said writing down everything and walking to the kitchen.  
"One hot cocoa with extra whipped cream and a black coffee with half and half" Gumi said.  
"Len, would you do the honors?" asked the manager.  
"Of course" Len replied as he started to make the coffee. Gumi smiled as she watched him work. He seemed intent on making sure it was perfect. Gumi caught herself admiring his enthusiasm and smiled even harder.

Two hours later Gumi was holding onto Len as he rode the bike over to Gumi's house. As they were nearing the park, Len started to slow down.  
"I need some water. Hold on" He said as he rode into the park. Len stopped the bike at a metal bench and jumped off before walking over to the water fountain. Gumi got off the bike too and sat down on the bench, putting the backpacks nest to the bike. She was tired herself from running back and forth, and wondered if she would be able to finish all her homework.  
Len came back and sat down on the bench next to Gumi. He grabbed his backpack and took out an opened pack of Pockys. He sat down and started to munch on it before realizing he hadn't offered one to Gumi.  
"Hey, do you want one?" He said holding out the bag to her.  
"Yeah, I'm starved" she replied putting her hand in the bag to get one. She tried to get one and realized that there were none left. Len noticed this too.  
"Are there any left?" He asked. Gumi shook her head.  
"Seriously? Awh. I'm sorry" he told her crumpling up the empty bag and throwing it into the nearest trash. Len still hadn't finished eating his pocky yet.  
"Hey, why don't we try the pocky game?" He asked.  
"What?! No way am I playing that!" Gumi said surprised.  
"Huh? Oh, I mean the version where you stop halfway and see who gets the larger piece. Rin and I play it all the time" he told her laughing. Gumi though about his for a moment.  
"Fine, as long as we stop halfway" she said. Len smirked as he bit the pocky lightly as to let Gumi take a bite of it too. She pushed herself forward on the bench to bite the pocky, and began to eat it. Len did the same, and eventually both of them got so close they could feel the other breathing. Gumi blushed as her hand brushed his and began to pull back. In a miraculous turn of events though, she somehow slipped and fell forward onto Len. Gumi realized in horror that her lips had fallen onto Len's and almost screamed as she pushed herself back upright onto the bench. Blushing intensely, Gumi put her hands over her mouth. Len was silent for a moment before he began to crack up.  
"If you wanted to kiss me you could have just said so" he said still laughing. Gumi turned to look her him, her hand still over her mouth.  
"That was my first" she said hoarsely staring at him. Len ceased laughing and pushed himself upright.  
"Mine too, but hey, don't think about it like that. It was a really stupid accident so it doesn't really count" he told her still smiling.  
"I guess so" Gumi said after thinking about it and pulling her hands from her mouth. She looked at Len one last time as to confirm it wasn't intentional before standing up.  
"I've got to get home" she said flattening out her skirt.  
"Yeah, me too" Len said standing up as well and walking over to the bike. Gumi picked up the backpacks again and got onto the bike after Len had gotten on. This time when she wrapped her arms around him though, her heart started beating much faster.  
 _Gumi, snap out of it. He's still just a friend, remember that_ she told herself as they set off to her house.  
Eventually they reached it and Gumi said her last goodbyes to Len before watching him walk over to his. She entered her house to find it empty. Usually her mom would have been home by now, though it wasn't too strange for her to be late.  
Gumi went to her room and started working on homework. Eventually her mom came home with some fast food and Gumi ate that for dinner. She then finished up all her homework and crashed, happy the day had actually gone pretty well.  
 _If only I could tell everyone I kissed Len_ she thought to herself smiling before she fell asleep.


	6. What a surprise

Gumi woke up and finished her early morning routine. She made her way to school once again by bike and locked it on the gate once she arrived. Walking into the school with her helmet tucked under the arm, she saw a familiar looking teal haired girl laughing with Rin. Miku looked over in Gumi's direction and her smile faltered.  
Gumi turned and walked to her locker without looking back, not sure if she was actually mad at Miku or not.  
"Wait, Gumi" she heard a voice call from behind her. Gumi kept walking. She felt something grab her arm and stopped.  
"What do you want?" She asked Miku in a stern voice. Even though she still wanted to be friends with Miku, she couldn't help but not want to show how hurt she was. Gumi had a problem like this. Even if she was hurt she would play it off in any way possible, sometimes hurting other people in the process, and making her life harder for herself.  
"Look Gumi. I'm sorry I got all defensive yesterday. I understand that I may have hurt you, but that was only because I really liked Len, and seeing him with another person made me jealous. I'm sorry" Miku said looking at the ground.  
Gumi exhaled and turned to face Miku. "It's okay. Let's make up for it with a hug?" Gumi asked opening her arms.  
"Okay" Miku said smiling. They hugged each other for a while in silence, until Miku whispered in Gumi's ear, "It's not like you kissed or anything right?".  
Gumi blushed. "What? No, that would never happen" she said. Her tone of voice gave it away though. Miku pulled apart from the hug and looked Gumi into the eyes.  
"Ah? So you like him huh? Well, may the best girl win" she said smirking before winking to Gumi. Immediately after the smirk disappeared and Miku's friendly smile took its place.  
"I was just talking with Rin and she wants to invite me and you to her grandparent's beach house for spring break all of next week. Since your mom works and my dad's been busy, I thought it would be perfect for all of us" she said with a sparkle in her eye. Gumi smiled back.  
"It sounds wonderful. How would everything work out?" She asked.  
"Well," responded Miku. "Rin's grandfather would pick all of us up and drive us over to the house on Monday. We would spend the entire week there and come back on Saturday".  
Gumi though about his for a moment. "Sounds good to me!".  
Rin walked over at this moment. "Hey. Miku, did you tell her about the plans for next week?" She asked.  
"Mhm" Miku nodded.  
"Cool" Rin replied. "You up for it?" she asked looking at Gumi.  
"Yeah! It sounds like so much fun" she replied.  
"I'm glad Len's coming, I'll have time to strengthen my bond with him" interrupted Miku beaming with determination (Author's note: MikuTale confirmed XD).  
"W-wait. Len's going to be there?" Gumi asked surprised.  
"Well yeah. He is my brother" Rin said walking over so that she was in front of Gumi. She leaned in too close for comfort (at least in Gumi's case) and said, "You like him huh?".  
"W-what makes you think that?" Gumi responded sweating.  
"It's really obvious" said a girl with curled pink hair from behind Gumi.  
"No it's not" Gumi procrastinated as she turned around, blushing visibly.  
Teto laughed. "Doesn't matter".  
Rin looked looked over at Teto with an air of hatred. Teto merely crossed her arms and gave Rin a mocking look. Gumi and Miku looked between the two girls before looking at each other, making sure to communicate neither of them understood what was going on between the blonde and pink (Author's note: Idk what to call Teto T_T).  
Eventually Rin shrugged and turned her back. "I have no use fighting with a brat" she said walking away.  
"If I'm a brat what are you?" Teto yelled back still smirking. Rin made an obscene gesture with her hand before turning the corner.  
"What's that about?" Gumi asked bewildered. Miku looked at Teto, waiting for an answer. Teto remained mute for a long while, but eventually said, "You'll learn when it's time".  
She turned around and walked off in the opposite direction of Rin. "I'll miss my class" she said turning around one last time before going around the corner.  
Gumi and Miku were left there dumbfounded at what had just happened. Miku shrugged it off and told Gumi she would see her during lunch before walking to her class, leaving Gumi alone in the hallway. She sighed and walked to her locker, putting her helmet in and getting her books.

~'~'~

During lunch, Gumi sat with Miku and Rin as they discussed the plan for next week. Gumi had gotten a banana cream pie as a little treat and was eating it quietly while watching Rin and Miku chatter away. She eventually finished the pie, and walked over to go throw out the plate. As she did so, she saw Len standing in front of the bulletin board. There was no one else around so Gumi thought it would be a safe way to talk with Len.  
"Hey" she said walking over to him.  
"Oh, hi Gumi" he said waving at her before looking back at the board.  
"Watcha' looking for?" Gumi asked him.  
"I'm trying to see if there's a book club. I haven't seen anything though" Len replied in a defeated tone of voice.  
"Aw, cheer up. You can always read on your own ya know" she said patting his back.  
"Yeah, I guess so" he said shrugging and turning to look at her. For a moment both were looking each other in the eye. Gumi wasn't sure why, but she found herself shaking ever so slightly. Eventually Len leaned in towards her. Gumi took a step back, but didn't go back far enough since Len still managed to reach her face. He licked her side of her mouth and pulled back, making Gumi blush.  
"W-what was that for?" She said touching the wet spot on her face.  
"You had some banana cream on you and I couldn't resist. Sorry if I scared you" he said smiling. Gumi looked at him for a while before frowning and punching him.  
"Hey" Len said rubbing where Gumi had punched him.  
"That's what you get for not telling me to wipe it off. Remember for future reference" she said sticking out her tongue as to mock him before walking back to the lunch tables. She smiled to herself. _Not only has Len Kagamine kissed me, but he also licked_ me Gumi though to herself giddily before walking across the cafeteria to her locker, hearing the bell ring just as she reached it. _I wonder what'll happen next week_ she thought before setting off to her next class.


	7. Have Fun On a Car Ride

The rest of the week happened to go by quickly. Tuesday finished in no time, a test filled Wednesday didn't last too long, and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday flew by without a trace. On Monday, Gumi exhaustedly packed up her bags for the trip after waking up at 9, and ate some cereal for breakfast since her mom had to leave early for work (Gumi was surprised because her mom never had early shifts. Never the less, she went along).  
Dragging her suitcase behind her with a nearly finished book tucked under one arm, a phone about to fall out of her back pocket, and a bag of cereal in the hand not holding the suitcase (Gumi was so tired she just pulled the cereal out of the box and ate by dumping it into her mouth), Gumi walked outside to wait for Rin who was supposed to be coming by 9:30.  
She waited out there for over half an hour until a white sedan pulled up in her driveway and a blonde head popped out of the backseat window behind the driver.  
"Yo, put your stuff in the back and let's get going" Rin said lowering the sunglasses on her face.  
"Why did you take so long?" Gumi asked walking over to the car. Miku hopped out from the opposite side Rin was on and opened up the trunk for Gumi.  
"We had to go back to my house and grab my pajamas. That would have been horrible if I forgot them" Miku said. Gumi rolled her eyes.  
"Fine, let's just get going" she finished as she walked to the door Miku had left opened. Miku crawled into the car and took a seat next to Rin while Gumi got in and closed the door. She pushed herself closer to the door than to Miku so that Miku could get some space to breathe.  
"Are you all buckled in?" Asked Rin's grandfather. "Yup/Yes/Yeah" the girls said in unison (Author's note: try to guess who said what. Good luck :P).  
"Okay then" the grandfather replied before pulling out of the driveway and starting for Main Street.  
Gumi looked around the car and saw that Len was sitting shotgun, earphones plugged in both ears. Grandfather Kagamine was whistling to himself while driving as Rin texted a friend on the other side of her phone. Miku was doodling in what looked like a diary, while Gumi observed the quiet scene. She put her hand into the cereal and started to munch on it watching everyone do whatever it was they were doing. Rin looked up from her texting and sniffed the air as soon as Gumi put the cereal in her mouth.  
"Do I smell 'Grains of the Marshmallow'?" She asked turning her head towards Gumi. Gumi looked down at the cereal before nodding her head. Immediately Rin's eyes sparkled as she dove to grab the bag from Gumi's hands, falling on top of Miku in the process.  
"Rin, you messed up my drawing!" Miku exclaimed.  
"Sorry" Rin said pulling the bag free from a terrified Gumi's arms.  
"Rin, put on your seatbelt" said Grandfather Kagamine glaring at her through the mirror. Rin made a pouty face before pulling the strap around her.  
"You didn't have your seatbelt on?" Gumi said alarmed.  
"Hey, I need to be able to breathe okay" Rin said making a face to Gumi. Suddenly, everything in the car seemed gloomy and useless. Gumi wasn't sure why everything seemed so sad, but saw that both Rin and her grandfather were in the same mood. She looked over to Miku and realized that she was where the mood came from.  
Miku looked down in despair at her crumpled and scribbled drawing, which had actually looked good before Rin destroyed it. Miku began to sniffle a little. Gumi was able to see at that moment, the gloomy aura Miku was giving off, barely even visible but still there.  
"Hey Miku, cheer up" Gumi said trying to sound optimistic. Her voice cracked a little because Miku's sadness was getting to her, but she was able to hold back tears.  
"Miku, check this out" Gumi said pulling out her phone and finding the picture she had of a little kitten stretching out a tiny paw towards a cookie. Miku looked over with a quivering lip, but smiled and laughed at the picture.  
Immediately the mood in the car lifted and was back to its normal state. Rin sneakily ripped out the paper from Miku's journal and threw it out the window. She then closed the book in Miku's hands and said, "Hey, wanna listen to some music?"  
Miku smiled, all traces of her sadness gone. "Sure!" She said joyfully as Rin put one of her ear pieces into Miku's ear. They jammed out as Len pulled out his earbuds and turned around.  
"What just happened?"  
"Miku's aura got too strong. How did you not notice until now?" Gumi whispered. Len shrugged and turned back around just as the car drove onto the freeway.

~'~'~

Two hours later, Miku was sleeping on top of a snoring Rin, comfortably holding the bag of cereal hostage so Gumi couldn't get to it. Sighing, Gumi decided to sleep herself and leaned over Miku. When she did this, she caught a glimpse of what was on Len's phone. She gasped.  
"You read 'Sonica Black'?" She asked him.  
"Yeah" he answered still reading it.  
"Do you want spoilers?" She asked him with a sneaky tone of voice. Len stopped his reading and looked up before coming up with a decision.  
"Sure, why not" he answered turning towards Gumi.  
"Well, for one Jason is actually Lord Crimson, two Lira gets killed by the Firmament Gang, three..." started Gumi.  
"Okay, okay, stop. That's way too many spoilers for me" said Len turning back around to face the road.  
"You let me tell you" Gumi stated point blank while shrugging her shoulders.

~'~'~  
By nightfall they reached a small town called Canro. It had multiple houses and was situated by the beach, as well as a small section dedicated to shopping and tourism. Gumi looked out the window in awe at the small town and at how lovely it seemed. She hoped that this next week would be so much fun she would never forget it.  
They pulled up to a two story, tan colored house situated right next to the beach, with only a road for cars to drive through separating it from the waves.  
Once the car stopped Gumi jumped put and opened the trunk. She helped unload all the bags and ran inside.  
The exterior was beautiful, with multiple flowers growing next to the grassy lawn, tough the interior was just as beautiful. It had a sort of classic art theme to it, with glass lamps, tin decorations, and a grandfather clock to mark the time. Gumi walked in with her jaw dropped as she observed the scene.  
"Hey, carrot-top. The rooms are upstairs" said Len nudging her towards the stairs.  
"Oh, okay" Gumi said dragging the bags up to one of the rooms.  
"It's this room" Rin said running up behind Gumi and shoving her into the room closest to the stairs. The room had a queen sized bed and was decorated with a brown dresser, a pink clock, and multiple ribbons in coffee, strawberry, and cream colors. To Gumi, it seemed like a neapolitan theme.  
She dropped the bags and ran up to the bed, jumping on it as she did so.  
"Me and Miku were going to sleep on the bad together since Miku didn't bring a sleeping bag. Gumi stopped rolling on the bed and made a pouty face to Rin.  
"Why do I have to sleep on the floor?" "Because, you're the one that brought a sleeping bag" Rin answered as Miku walked into the room.  
"I'm tired ya guys" she said placing her bags next to the door and walking over to the bed. "See you tomorrow" she finished before crawling under the bed sheets and falling asleep.  
"Well, that's my queue" Rin said as she tucked herself in next to Miku.  
"Hold up, you're not even going to change or brush your teeth?" Gumi asked bewildered. In return she head two large snores coming from the bed. Gumi shrugged and took out her toothbrush from her bag, walking over to the bathroom she had spotted earlier.  
She walked into it and saw it had a samurai theme to it. Len was brushing his teeth by the sink, already in his yellow and blue onesie.  
"How did you change so quickly?" Gumi asked him as she put toothpaste on her brush.  
"Magic" he replied wriggling his fingers before spitting out the last of the toothpaste in his mouth. Gumi rolled her eyes and wet her brush before brushing her teeth. Len walked out of the bathroom, though not before jabbing Gumi lightly in the side. She yelped and whacked at him, laughing at the stupidity of it all. Len laughed back as he went into his room and closed the door.  
Gumi finished brushing her teeth and went back to the multicolored room. She changed into her pajamas (which were decorated with black and white T.V.s) and pulled her sleeping bag out of the suitcase. Laying it out on the floor, Gumi squirmed into it and snuggled with the pillow. Eventually, she fell into a dreamless sleep, wondering how the rest of the week would be like.


	8. The Crater pt 1

Okay. So I was going to update this earlier. Right? And as I was almost finished with the chapter, I accidentally exited the browser and lost what I had been writing. (┛◉Д◉)┛ Anyways, here's the very late chapter (I will hopefully update another one this week. I'm so sorry)

* * *

Gumi woke up to find an empty sunlight room. She reluctantly got out of the sleeping bag and stretched. Walking over to the window, Gumi observed the sea with a tired look. It was so nice getting to see something different from the city.  
Sighing, she walked back to her suitcase and took out the clothes she was going to wear for the day. A black tank-top, yellow sweats, and an amber sweater.  
Once she finished changing she made her way down the stairs where Rin and Len were sitting cross-legged in front of the T.V. holding controllers, while Miku and grand-father Kagamine were sitting on the couch talking.  
Miku looked up and waved at Gumi.  
"Hey Gumi! Did you know that Rin's grandfather has traveled all over the world?" she said with a smile on her face.  
"Really? That's so interesting" Gumi said spinning on her heels as she reached the bottom step. She walked over to the couch and sat next to Miku, leaning over to see the elderly traveler.  
"Yeah. I've seen a many things in my lifetime. The one thing I have yet to see is a crater" he said clearly thinking back.  
"That's interesting" Gumi said reaching for her phone in her sweater pocket.  
"Before we came here I was searching interesting sites near the area and found a meteor crater you can hike on that's located only a mile away" she said scrolling through her history until she found the website she had found it on. Grand-father Kagamine adjusted his glasses as she handed him the phone.  
"Well I'll be. If you want we could go and visit it today" he said overlooking the website before handing the phone back to her.  
"Really!?" Miku asked excited.  
"Well of course. Just as long as my two little lemons stop playing video games" he said pulling off his glasses and walking over to the T.V. He stood over Rin and Len as they continued to play.  
"Now one of you better pause that and be a little more courteous to our guests" he said looking down at them. Both of the blondes continued to play the game and ignore him. Sighing, grand-father Kagamine turned off the T.V.  
"Hey! What was that for? I was winning!" Rin said looking up at him.  
"No you weren't" Len told her putting down the controller and standing up.  
"Oh yeah?" Rin said giving Len a look that would have intimidated most people.  
"Yeah. My HP was not in the red" Len said with a smirk on his face.  
"Really? Well it's GOING TO BE NOW!" she replied before jumping at Len and tackling him to the ground. Grand-father Kagamine crossed his arms and sighed while Miku face-palmed. Gumi stood up and raced to the battle ground.  
"Now now. There is no use fighting" Gumi said pulling Rin off of her brother.  
"He started it" Rin replied with a pouty face.  
"Yeah and you attacked first" Gumi pointed out. Rin looked at her with a death glare before standing up and brushing out her hair with her fingers. Len pushed himself up and walked past Gumi. He whispered 'thanks' before waking over to the kitchen.  
Gumi stood there, trying to figure out how he should have (or should) react to that. Eventually she shrugged it off and walked over to the kitchen  
as well to get something for breakfast.  
When she walked in she saw that the theme here was... surprisingly normal. Wooden cabinets and tiled counters. _Intresting_ she thought. _Even more interesting_ she added at seeing Len standing on the counter going through one of the cabinets.  
"Can't find a cereal?" She asked folding her arms across her chest.  
"Nope. Look in the fridge for something edible. Almost all of the food here's past the expiration date" he said without looking up. Gumi sighed and did as she was instructed. Surprisingly, she only found a bag of shredded cheese, salad, eggs, and milk in the fridge.  
"What does your grand-father eat?" she asked pulling out the cheese, eggs, and milk.  
"Salad, scrambled eggs... and expired graham crackers apparently" he said pulling out a graham cracker box.  
"Well, scrambled eggs is what I'm having" Gumi said looking underneath the sink for a pan. Finding one, she put it on the stove and began to heat it up.  
"Can you make some for the rest of us? Miku came down a little earlier than you but immediately started talking with gramps so she hasn't eaten anything. Me and Rin just ended up playing games throughout most of the morning while gramps watched so we haven't eaten either" he said thinking about earlier that morning.  
"Sure thing. Want cheese in it?" she asked as she cracked an egg in and poured a little bit of milk, stirring all of it.  
"Might as well" he said shrugging.  
"I'll get some plates" he said before opening one of the cabinets.  
"Thanks" Gumi told him as he handed her the plates to serve the food on.

Eventually everyone ate breakfast and got ready for the hike. Gumi pulled on her sneakers before running outside to catch up for everyone else. W _hy is it that even though I was the first to finish eating and brushing my teeth I'm still running late?_ she asked herself.  
Once everyone had piled into the car, grand-father Kagamine started the car and set off for the crater.  
Around an hour later, grand-father Kagamine spoke.  
"Hey Gumi, could you show me that website again?" he asked.  
"Um, sure" she said reaching into her pocket and taking it out. She handed it to him once she reached the website, not quite sure why he needed it. She saw him looking down at her phone and back at the road for a while, before realizing he was looking at the directions.  
"Hey Rin," started Gumi.  
"Your grand-father seems really good a technology, why is that?" she asked.  
"Well, once he finished his tour of the world with our grand-mother, he decided to go into technology to learn more about the advances in society" she said.  
"Interesting. Hey, whatever happened to your grandmother?" Gumi asked once again.  
"Oh, she divorced him" Rin said nonchalantly.  
"O-oh" Gumi replied. She felt bad as she knew divorce wasn't something to be taken lightly.  
"If your feeling bad about asking don't worry" Rin said. _My goodness this girl can read minds_ Gumi thought.  
"She was a bitch so we're pretty happy" Rin finished.  
"Rin Kagamine. Watch your language" said grand-father Kagamine.  
"Okay pops" she answered rolling her eyes. they pulled up to a parking lot five seconds afterwards.  
"Okay kids, let's go see a crater" grand-father Kagamine said as he unlocked the doors. They all piled out of the car and eventually ended up facing the direction of the crater.  
"Well, at least we can see it from here" said the optimistic Miku.  
"Yeah, but it's no bigger than a toy car from where we stand" Rin said putting her hand over her eyes and looking at the crater.  
"The website did say you would need to hike to it as the ground it too cracked to build roads on" Gumi said (Author's Note: I don't know if this is a side effect or not of a real meteor shower, so don't take this as fact).  
"We might as well get hiking then" grand-father Kagamine said as he started down the path. Th five teens followed, and around half an hour later reached the meteor site.  
Once they reached the crater, Gumi found it actually wasn't that deep and was sall enough to hike down. Looking down Gumi could see some of the rocks in the bottom of the crater making a heart shape.  
"Looks like someone arranged the rocks like that" Gumi said.  
"That means we should be able to climb down" Len said as he began to make his way down the crater.  
"Hey!" Gumi yelled as he continued to climb.  
"If you don't want to come that's not my problem" he said looking up. Rin took this opportunity to kicj some dust over Len's head. He looked down in time so that it didn't hit his face.  
"Not cool sis, not cool" he said looking up again before continuing to climb. Rin gave a little hmpf before crossing her arms. Gumi shrugged as she began to follo Len down. Miku came afterwards, and Rin followed.  
"Excuse me missy, but you are not going to see the bottom of a crater" grand-father Kagamine said grabbing Rin's arm and pulling her back up.  
"Why not?" she said pulling her arm out of his grip once she was back on the ground.  
"Because I don't like spoiled brats" he said looking at her.  
"I am not a spoiled brat!" she exclaimed.  
"Oh yeah? Starting a fight with your brother, speaking language I don't appreciate, and kicking dust in your brother's eyes doesn't make you a spoiled brat?" he said. Rin stared at him before sighing and sitting down cross-legged.  
"I'm not gonna come down with you guys, my leg hurts" she yelled. Grand-father Kagamine nodded his head towards her.  
"Good. I hope you learn to be a little more respectful in the future now" he said ruffling her hair. Rin smiled.  
"I hope so too" she said.


	9. The Crater pt 2, and A Deathly Game

I am SOOOOOO sorry for not updating earlier. Things have been really busy for me and I've been loosing inspiration for this work, but I think I've been able to bring back my spirits for this story, as well as a time to write. Once again, sorry for any inconvenience...

* * *

"At the bottom of the crater, Len was helping Gumi and Miku down onto the floor.  
"Woah" Miku said once she looked up. Indeed, it was a magnificent sight as the sun was positioned right on top of the crater, and was surrounded by clouds.  
"Is almost looks like an egg" Gumi said chuckling. Miku laughed along, and eventually Len did too.  
"I'm gonna arrange some rocks so Rin can read it. Wanna help?" Len asked Gumi and Miku.  
"Sure thing!" Miku said smiling and skipping over. Standing right next to Len Miku bent over slightly to whisper something in his ear. Len laughed as Miku pulled away beaming. Gumi felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. _Why do i feel sick?_ She asked herself.  
"Hey Gumi, are you gonna help or what?" Len said.  
"Oh, yeah" she replied putting her arm around her stomach and walking over. Len looked at her with concern.  
"Are you okay?" He asked.  
"What?! No, I'm fine" she said putting up her hand.  
"Really? You put your arm around your stomach like it hurt, so I thought you weren't feeling well" he said placing his hand on her forehead. Gumi felt blood rushing to cheeks as soon as he made contact.  
"I'm fine don't worry" she said quickly before running over to Miku. _He is really observant isn't he_ she thought, a smile creeping onto her face. Blushing even harder Gumi shook her head and looked down. _Now's not the time to have fantasies Gumi_ she told herself.  
"So, what are we going to write?" Gumi asked Miku.  
"I was telling Len we should create an orange shape with the rocks and then do a smiley face in the middle" she said.  
"That's a great idea!" Gumi said. For some reason, she felt relieved.  
"Okay then. Let's get rock-moving!" Miku said triumphantly before running over to the rocks and starting to organize them. Gumi followed, and eventually Len did until they had finished creating the smiling orange.  
"Okay Len, you can call Rin now" Miku said putting her hands on her hips.  
"Why me?" Len asked her.  
"Because she doesn't listen to me" Miku said dropping her arms to her side and slouching.  
"Hey, don't feel bad. She doesn't listen to anyone, believe me" Len said making a 'Don't worry' face. Looking up, Len squinted his eyes and took a big breath.  
"HEY RIN, LOOK DOWN HERE FOR A SEC WOULD YA?!" He screamed putting his hands around his mouth.  
"WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO" Rin screamed back.  
"WELL YOU HAVE TO BECAUSE MIKU WANTS YOU TOO" he screamed in return.  
"FINE" she finished. A blonde head could be seen looking down a few seconds later.  
"OMG MIKU. WHY?!" Rin screamed.  
"YOU DON'T LIKE IT?!" Miku asked, visibly hurt.  
"DO I LIKE IT?! I LOVE IT!" Rin screamed in reply. Miku beamed.  
"YA'LL GONNA COME BACK UP NOW OR WHAT?! I'M LONELY OVER HERE" Rin yelled. Gumi looked around. /  
"Should we go back?" She asked.  
"Might as well" Len said shrugging.  
"YES WE'RE COMING BACK" Miku screamed after confirmation.  
"THANK GOODNESS" Rin said. Her head could be seen disappearing as Len made his way to the crater wall. He began to climb but looked back to make sure Gumi and Miku were following. Miku had begun to climb behind him, though Gumi was still on the floor.  
Looking up, Gumi saw Len looking down at her. Once they made eye contact Len smiled. Gumi blushed and immediately began to climb the wall.  
Once Len reached the top he began to help Miku get up. Once she was standing, he reached down to help Gumi.  
"Thanks" she said grabbing him hand and pulling herself up. Once on the ground, Gumi rolled over onto her back and began to pant.  
"I am not built for this kind of stuff" she said panting.  
"We can tell" Rin said sitting cross-legged with her head on her hand.  
"We don't need the sarcastic comments" Len said ruffling her hair. Rin slapped his hand.  
"Ouch" he said rubbing it. Rin merely stuck her tongue out at him.  
"Now now" grandfather Kagamine said. "Let's try to keep the peace".  
"Fine" Rin said pushing herself up. Gumi exchanged glances with Miku.  
"What happened while we were in the crater?" Miku whispered to Gumi.  
"Magic" Len whispered from behind them.  
"Ha ha very funny" Gumi said looking back at him. (Author's note: Gumi can no longer be surprised after the events of the fourth chapter XD)  
Len gave her a smirk before walking around her and Miku.

Once they trekked back to the car and got into it, grandfather Kagamine asked everyone if they were hungry. After receiving a large yes, he drove over to a fast food restaurant and entered the drive-thru.  
"Now, what do you guys want?" He asked.  
"A hamburger please" Len said.  
"Ditto" Rin added.  
"I'd like a salad. No meat though, I'm a vegetarian" Miku said (Author's note: Yes, Miku is a vegetarian here. Please don't hate me for it T_T)  
"Sure thing. How about you Gumi?" Grandfather Kagamine asked looking back.  
"I think I'll take one of the tuna sandwiches" she said after looking at what they served.  
"Okay then. What do you want to drink?" He asked them.  
"Banana smoothie" Len answered quickly.  
"Orange juice for me" Rin said.  
"I'll take a lemon-lime soda" Miku added with a smile.  
"Just a cup of water" Gumi finished.  
"Gotcha" Grandfather Kagamine said before ordering. Soon enough, everyone had their food and was eating on the way back to the house. By the time grandfather Kagamine pulled into the driveway, everyone had finished their meal.  
"My my. You guys must a been hungry" he said opening the door next to Gumi.  
"Yup. And I didn't even climb down the crater" Rin said. Gumi clambered out of the car moments later, Miku following (though not as clumsily). Eventually the firls were back in there room, bored out of their minds.  
"I'm booooooored" Rin whined.  
"Me too" Miku said flopping onto the bed. Gumi merely sat there daydreaming.  
"What time is it?" Miku asked as she sat back up. Rin looked over at the clock in the room before answering.  
"Wow. It's already 5" she told Miku.  
"Seriously?" Miku asked surprised.  
"Yup" Rin replied. There was a long silence before someone spoke.  
"Why don't we play truth or dare?" Miku suggested smiling.  
"Hey, that's not a bad idea!" Rin said standing up.  
"W-what?" Gumi asked, not having heard what they had said before.  
"Gumi, truth or dare?" Rin asked eagerly.  
"Oh, um, dare?" Gumi said still unsure about what was going on.  
"I dare you to do a hand-stand" she said.  
"I can't to hand stands!" Gumi said surprised.  
"Then you loose the game" Rin told her.  
"Fine" Gumi said reluctantly pushing herself up.  
"If I fall on anyone don't blame me" she said pushing down her shirt. Miku sat criss-cross applesauce holding onto the edge of the bed. Rin pushed herself back as to give Gumi space.  
Taking a deep breath, Gumi pushed herself towards the ground and lifted her legs. She fell back down with a thud, but laughed at the stupidity of it. Rin began to chuckle, while Miku howled with laughter.  
"Okay, okay. My turn. Miku, truth or dare?" she asked.  
"Truth" she said crossing her arms.  
"I truth you, to tell me who you like" Gumi told her. Miku gulped.  
"Can I whisper it to you?" She asked.  
"Nope, Rin should hear too" Gumi said smirking. Miku glared at her.  
"Fine, I have a crush on Len" she said.  
"Knew it" Rin said in a sing-song voice.  
"Hey, it's not like Gumi doesn't like him" she said trying to change the focus from her to Gumi.  
"What! No I don't!" Gumi said blushing.  
"Yes you do. Gumi truth or dare, and you can't choose the same thing twice" Miku told Gumi.  
"What? That's unfair" Gumi said.  
"Actually it isn't" Rin stated matter-of-factly.  
"Fine, truth" Gumi replied crossing her arms.  
"Do you like Len?" Miku asked her.  
"W-well, yeah I do, but who doesn't?" She said.  
"Me" Rin said raising her hand quickly.  
"No sherlock. Truth or dare" Gumi said, switching the main focus away from her just as Miku had done.  
"Give me a darrrrrrrr matey" Rin said closing on of her eyes and pointing towards Gumi.  
"I dare you to stuff your mouth with graham crackers" Gumi told her.  
"Wait, gramps has graham crackers?" Rin asked as she pushed herself up onto her feet.  
"Yes, he does" Gumi replied as she stood up as well. Rin shrugged and walked out of the room, Gumi following. Eventually, Miku stood up and skipped out of the room to follow the other two girls into the hallway.  
Once they walked down the stairs, they saw Len sitting on the couch looking at his phone, with grandfather Kagamine napping nest to him. Len looked up to see the three girls chuckling as they walked towards the kitchen. Intrigued, Len asked what was happening.  
"Rin's gonna stuff her mouth with graham crackers" Miku said with a smile.  
"Seriously? Okay this, I gotta see" Len said half to himself, half to Miku as he pushed himself up from the couch. A couple moment later, the two twins and leek lover were watching the green haired girl clamber onto the counter top to reach the cabinet where the stale graham crackers could be found. Gumi eventually stabilized herself and took out the box of graham crackers, carefully handing them to Rin as to not fall off the counter.  
"Thanks" Rin said in a slightly sarcastic manner as she took the box and opened it. She eyed the cracker she has taken out carefully before forcing it into her mouth. She did the same with another cracker, and another, and another, until her cheeks were full. Len during this time was trying to hide his smile, while Gumi was waiting for Rin to realize they were stale.  
Eventually Rin made a face of disgust, before starting to chew the crackers. She swallowed them all with tears forming at the edge of her eyes, and placed the box down on the counter. By now Len had burst into laughter, and Gumi was chuckling to herself. Miku watched with worried eyes, though still had a grin forming at the edge of mouth.  
"Why..." Rin started before taking a small pause.  
"Why didn't you tell me they were stale?" she finished after swallowing once more.  
"Because that would have ruined the fun" Gumi said smirking.  
"Oh yeah? Well Gumi truth or dare" Rin said, anger clearly shown in her voice.  
"Dare" Gumi answered nonchalantly.  
"I dare you to tell Len you like him" Rin told her. Gumi widened her eyes as heat rose to her cheeks.  
"You can't do it can you" Rin said mockingly.  
"Th-that's not true" Gumi replied in defense.  
"Oh really? Well..." Rin started before trailing off. She remember her grandfather's words from earlier, '..I hope you learn to be more respectful in the future'.  
Rin looked at Gumi's face, only to see distress and embarrassment on it. Realizing what she had done, Rin tried to take back her words.  
"Look Gumi, I'm sorry. You don't have to do that if you feel uncomfortable" she said raising her arms in a defeated way. Gumi was taken aback by Rin's sudden kindness, and trued to find an appropriate response. Luckily, Len stepped in and saved both Rin and Gumi from an awkward silence.  
"Hey, why don't we go and wake up gramps to ask if we can watch a movie huh?" he said wrapping his arms around both Rin and Gumi. Gumi nearly jumped from the sudden contact, though Rin still hung her head low.  
"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Miku said as she stepped out of the kitchen, trying to escape the awkwardness of what had just happened. Gumi watched Miku leave, before turning to look at Len. She thought she was imagining things when she saw traces of pink on Len's cheeks, though any uncertainty was gone within the blink of an eye, as his cheeks were a normal pale a second later. Shaking her head, Gumi pulled out of Len's hold and half walked, half jogged over to Miku, where she was trying to wake up grandfather Kagamine.  
"Hey, Mr. Kagamine" Miku was whispering as she lightly shook the old man. His eyes slowly opened, and his head rose from his shoulders.  
"Huh, what's going on?" He asked, still in a trace.  
"We were gonna watch a movie, is that okay?" Miku asked once again in a whisper.  
"Oh, okay" grandfather Kagamine said as he yawned. He slowly got himself onto his feet, and walked over to the T.V., pulling out one of the drawers on the T.V. stand.  
"Here are all the movies I have, hope you find something you like. I'm gonna go and crash right now, see you kiddies in the morning" he said before walking up the stairs and into his room. Miku watched him in amazement before turning to Gumi.  
"How does one get THAT tired at 5:30?" she asked.  
"I have no idea" Gumi answered before looking to see what movies the old man owned.

After a couple hours of movies and frozen pizza (grandfather Kagamine keeps all his food in the freezer, hence the reason he has an empty fridge \\-.-/), the four teens were nearly asleep, and were barely keeping their eyes opened (the exception here is Miku though, as she is almost always full of energy).  
Gumi stood upward as she rubbed her eye, telling Miku, Rin, and Len that she was going to bed. Miku wished Gumi happy dreams, while Len merely told her 'goodnight' with tired eyes. Rin was already half asleep on Len's shoulder, and managed to raise a hand in acknowledgement before Gumi turned to walk up the stairs.  
Stumbling into the room, Gumi found her way to her sleeping bag, and snuggled into it comfortably. She slowly drifted off to sleep without a second thought, smiling foolishly at the strange events of that day.


	10. A Beautiful Sunset, Curtainfall

Gumi woke up to loud snoring. Just plain old, loud snoring. She brushed some hair out of her face to see who it was, and found though sleepy eyes that it was Rin who was playing rooster that morning.  
Gumi groaned as she pushed herself up and out of her sleeping bag, stretching her back. She groggily walked out of the room and down the stairs, and sat down on the couch once she had reached the living room. She lay down for a couple of minutes trying to get used to the light, eventually drifting off into a light sleep. She woke up when she heard coughing though, and looked up to see Miku walking/stumbling downstairs.  
"Miku, are you okay?" Gumi asked in a groggy voice as she rubbed one of her eyes. Miku nodded, avoiding Gumi's gaze. Though faint, there was a black aura surrounding her, alerting Gumi to what was going on (see chapter two for more info).  
"Miku, tell me you're okay" Gumi told her friend as she stood up and began to walk to the stairs.  
"I'm fine Gumi" Miku said in a hoarse and dark tone as she tried to make her way around Gumi at the foot of the stairs. The attempt was in vain though, as Gumi grabbed Miku's arm and pulled her up the stairs.  
Slamming open the door to the neapolitan room, Gumi dragged Miku in and hoisted her on the bed. Rin during this time had been startled and tumbled off the side of the mattress with a screech.  
"Yo Gumi, what was that for?" She asked as she rubbed her head and pushed herself into a sitting position.  
"I think Miku's sick" Gumi replied after she placed the back of her hand onto Miku's forehead. Shaking her head, Gumi turned and ran down the stairs, only to hurry back with a frozen bag of peas. She placed the bag on Miku's forehead before slowly adding pressure until Miku was laying down.  
Rin had already stood up by now, and was trying to find the reason Miku was sick by bombarding her with questions:  
"Did you wear sunblock yesterday when we went hiking?" "You didn't eat any of those expired graham crackers yesterday right?" "When exactly did you fall asleep?" etcetera, etcetera.  
Miku remained silent all the while, blankly staring at the ceiling until she closed her eyes and fell into a light sleep. Gumi continued to give Rin the death stare until she realized Miku wasn' going to answer any time soon and ceased talking.  
"Why don't we go and find your grandfather?" Gumi asked quietly before motioning to the door. She waited for Rin to walk out before exiting herself and slowly closing the door behind her. After ushering the blonde downstairs, Gumi gave her a hard stare before beginning a long monologue on why not to pressure one that is sick. Not two seconds after Gumi had finished, the front door opened and grand-father Kagamine entered the living room.  
"Gramps!" Rin exclaimed a little too joyfully as she rushed over to hug him.  
"Where have you been? Why were you outside? Did you know Miku got sick? You don't happen to have any medicine for fevers?" She asked as a start to her interrogation.  
"Rin..." Gumi muttered in a dark tone. Immediately Rin closed her mouth and backed away from her grandfather in acknowledgement.  
"Now now, it's okay for Rin to want to know where I've been" Grand-father Kagamine told Gumi.  
"And as for your questions Rin, I was outside admiring the morning breeze, and no I had no idea Miku was sick. Where is she?" He asked. Gumi opened her mouth to answer but was abruptly cut off by Rin who immediately said where. Grand-father Kagamine nodded before walking up the stairs and into the room. Rin gave Gumi a 'forgive me' look before running to join him.  
Sighing, she walked into the kitchen and began looking through the contents in the freezer, hoping to find some frozen chicken soup or at least ingredients to make it. Coming out with only frozen corn and the peas from earlier, Gumi decided she would ask if she could maybe go shopping.  
Making her way up the stairs into the room with a bag of frozen peas, she found everyone, including Len, standing around Rin.  
"Oh, good morning Gumi!" Len said when he noticed she had entered. Gumi nodded in recognition, dipping her head down so he couldn't see her smile. _Len was the first one to wish me a good morning_ she thought happily.  
Gumi made her way to the bed Miku was laying in and repositioned the peas on her head slowly before stepping back.  
"Thanks for making it seem like I'm in my death bed everyone" Miku commented darkly once she opened her eyes. Rin gave a surprised and slightly scared look after the comment and ended up leaving the room. Len followed until only three people remained.  
"Mr. Kagamine, would it be okay if I go out to the market and buy some ingredients to make chicken soup?"  
"Of course, you're too sweet. I'll give you the money. Oh, and don't forget to bring either Rin or Len with you since you're rather unfamiliar with the place" he told her before taking the wallet out of his pocket and handing Gumi a ten and a twenty. She thanked him and walked down into the living room where Rin and Len were found.  
"I'm going into town to buy ingredients for chicken soup for Miku. Your grandfather wanted one of you to accompany me, any volunteers?" she asked. Deep in her heart Gumi knew that she wanted Rin to come instead of Len, as she was sure she would make a fool of herself in some way should he come. Then again, the thing she wanted the most was to spend time alone with Len, though what would they do?  
She silently cursed herself for thinking so much and missing the answer the twins had given her.  
"Sorry, could you repeat that?"  
"I _said_ , I want to look over Miku so Len is going with you" Rin answered in an annoyed tone. Slightly ecstatic while worried at the same time, Gumi nodded before looking at Len and motioning to the door.  
"Uh, you might wanna change out of your pajamas first" Len pointed out as he stood up. Gumi looked down and blushed once she noticed how she had forgotten the detail.  
"I'll go change right now" she said before running up the stairs.

~'~'~  
Walking around the town, Gumi and Len stopped at a grocery store to pick up the chicken, broth, potatoes, vegetables, and seasonings that would be needed to make the soup. In exiting the store Gumi saw a gift shop and asked Len if they could stop by it. He complied to her wishes and soon they were looking at a collection of different sea-related trinkets and jewelry.  
"Woah." The word escaped from Gumi's mouth when she saw a necklace with a red tear-shaped pendant dangling from it and a small green shell attaching it to the black cord.  
"It's nice isn't it" Len said approaching her.  
"Yeah, it really is" She replied while stretching out her hand to touch the glass that covered it. Though she wasn't sure why, the necklace drew her away from the other items and stood out like a sore thumb.  
"You like it?" The shop owner asked.  
"A lot" Gumi told her, almost in a trance.  
"It's rather low quality having been made with cord rather than a chain, so the price is at twenty dollars"  
"I'll take it" she said pulling out the extra money she had brought. Gumi was about to hand it over when Len gave the woman money of his own.  
"What are you doing?" Gumi asked, slightly surprised at his action.  
"Getting you a present" he answered while smiling. Gumi blushed and opened her mouth to ask why, only to close it. She felt that it wasn't an appropriate time to ask that question as the shop owner was in the middle of handing them over the necklace, and decided to inquire about it later.  
Len took the paper bag the woman gave them that the necklace was in, and proceeded to walk outside. Gumi followed, still unsure about why he did that, but kept quiet nonetheless.  
About halfway to the house, Len took the necklace out of the bag and handed it to Gumi. She took it cautiously, noticing that he wasn't really making eye contact with her. Even so she didn't bother to ask him anything, the necklace catching her attention the most. She stared at it as though bewitched, and barely noticed when they had finally reached the house.  
She ended up entering first and made her way to the kitchen where grand-father Kagamine had already begun setting up the materials for the soup. She took out all that she had bought and began to prep cooking with the elderly traveler.

~'~'~  
A few hours later the soup was finished and everyone had eaten. Miku had begun to feel better by now, and Rin had calmed down immensely. Len was still acting strange though, of which continued to befuddle Gumi.  
"I'm going to go watch the sunset on the beach, anyone wish to join me?" Gumi asked standing up and taking her bowl and glass.  
"I'll pass" Miku said softly. Rin barely even looked up from her soup, granting Gumi a quick answer.  
"Someone needs to clean up the kitchen so I'll stay" Grand-father Kagamine commented.  
"I'll join you then" Len said as he followed Gumi into the kitchen with his dishes. They finished rinsing in silence before making their way out of the house and on the beach. Len found a bench to sit on and made room for Gumi next to him. She gladly took the spot, and they both watched the sun fall farther down the sky in silence.  
"Soo, that gift from earlier..." Gumi said to break the tension. She looked at Len to see what his response would be, only to find him hanging his head. Slightly surprised at the solemn gesture, Gumi said nothing more.  
"Well, since there's no easy way to put this, I'm sorry for forcing you into a friendship" he said looking at the sand.  
"Wait, what?" Gumi asked perplexed.  
"The first time we actually met I almost forced you to be my friend: taking you out to lunch, having you ride the bike with me when I could have walked, and all in all acting rather strange. I mean, I'd never really been on a date with anyone before so most of my weird actions were from instinct I had gained from being with Rin, but I still shouldn't have been like that. I'm sorry" He told her while moving his gaze to the undulating ocean.  
"That gift was kind of an apology for making you so uncomfortable. After all, we accidentally kissed, held each other while on the bike, I licked the side of your mouth, which by the way I'm still not sure why I did, and just acting way too familiar with you when we barely know each other."  
"W-wait. You mean to tell me you're sorry for all those incidents? I should be the one to say sorry since I was the one to ruin your date, I was the one to trip when we were eating the pocky, and I was the one acting strange the entire first time at the mall. You seemed so natural!" Gumi blurted out.  
"I mean come on! You're the most popular kid in school while I am the most nerdy introvert EVER. Why would someone like you have to be sorry to someone like me?"  
"Because you're the reason I went out with Miku" Len said quickly. Gumi looked at him blankly.  
"Huh?" she squeaked putting her head to the side.  
"I always thought you were a cool person okay? You just seemed to have no interest in popular things, you looked to have a great love for books, and I knew you weren't after me in any way because I was rich or popular, quite unlike every other girl in the school. You seemed so nice and collected that I was immediately drawn to you" Len said. (Author's note: I forgot to mention previously that the Kagamine's are from a rich family, hence the reason grand-father Kagamine was able to travel the world and why his wife got married to him)  
Gumi blinked a couple times before registering what he had said and blushing.  
"Y-you really thought that of me?" she asked.  
"Yeah, and that's why I'm sorry for tricking your friend without telling her my intentions, probably hurting her in the process, and for pushing you to become my friend" he replied looking away from her.  
"No"  
"What?" Len asked turning his attention to Gumi.  
"I said no. Using my friend to get closer to me was a bad idea, and I am slightly hurt yet flattered that you did so, but you shouldn't apologize for making me your friend. I did that of my own free will, partially because I may or may not have had a crush on you" Gumi said looking him in the eye while blushing at her last comment.  
"B-but I still.." he started.  
"We may both have different views on the issue as to who is guilty, but, at least we agree on one thing" she told him before moving closer to his face. Slowly she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his. The smell of the ocean and sand made the kiss salty, but Gumi didn't mind, she was experiencing one of the most wonderful sensations she had ever felt. A warm feeling took over her heart as Len kissed her back, pushing her down onto the bench slowly, their tongues intertwining in a moment of bliss. He pulled back from the kiss and looked Gumi in the eyes, smiling slightly at her warm gaze. She pushed her hand into his as he kissed her again, shortly this time as to pull back and nuzzle her cheek. Gumi chuckled a little before pushing her way into a sitting position and looking at Len. His cerulean eyes made their may from her face to her collar, where the necklace he had bought her lay. He touched the pendant with his free hand.  
"What made you like the necklace so much?"  
"I guess the colors and style were just appealing to me. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder right?" she said moving her hand to touch his on top of her necklace. She smiled sheepishly.  
"Thank you"  
Len grinned at her before pulling back and looking at the setting sun. It was already more than halfway past the horizon line, and the faint light from its rays were beginning to fade.  
"We should get going shouldn't we?" Gumi asked.  
"Yeah, we really should" Len said getting up. He offered his hand to Gumi and waited for her to take it before hoisting her up. She looked at him and nodded before they made their way back to the house.  
"We'll need to tell Miku about this" Gumi said.  
"Not to mention my mom will be angry" she added turning her gaze to the ground.  
"Hey, don't worry about it. Everything will be fine" he said patting her shoulder in reassurance.  
"Yeah" Gumi replied, giving into his sweet words.  
 _It'll be fine..._

 _Fin_

* * *

Woah, look at that. I actually finished the story.

Congratulations to the people who managed to read the whole thing and a special congratulations to those who read it back when it was still updating!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day/evening.


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